The great crystal orb glows and spins, and even now I do not know what is
truth and what is false. He has set me before this globe, and commanded me
to tell the tale once more. Kyuden Kakita burns with shadow. The Crab lands
boil over with Taint and infestation. The Phoenix lands blacken with the Sun's
own flame. Even Otosan Uchi trembles.
I am the last storyteller.
'What do you see, Shizue,' Kage asks me. 'What tales can be made of wasted
lives?'
Kage refuses to help. He says that stories of honor are nothing more than
words for children - lost whispers of breeze, false hope that dies before
cold reality. He sees the blood stain the ground at Volturnum's Gate, and he
sees the Shadow swarming across the Empire. The ground darkens from their
touch, and the peasants die, their faces lost, their souls taken for Goju's
work. Kage sees them die, and he sits upon his dark throne whispering that
man is no longer worth saving.
They have fought for mankind's freedom for a thousand years. Their battle is
almost over - and the losses they have taken from Toturi and his Emerald
Magistrates have been heavy. Shinjo has destroyed the Kolat in the Unicorn.
Toturi has slaughtered all those who fell beneath his suspicion. The Empire
has butchered itself - piece by bloody piece. 'Stories of honor,' Kage
snarls. 'Deceit and lies. Humanity chooses a path - samurai kills samurai,
even when freedom is before them. Rokugan is not worth saving. Honor is
dead. Loyalty is a lie. Bushido does not exist anymore.'
Kage says the Kolat fight for the Rule of Man. I watch as his servants are
hunted, and I see him wonder that man is worth such agony. Osugi died to
save the Tao from the Shadow, and her name is cursed throughout the Empire.
Hiroru has betrayed him. Dorai has disobeyed. Aramasu has given up. Kaouta,
Chinoko, Kado - all have been lost. He has prepared orders to force Gusai, a
Phoenix in his command, to stand down and let the Shadow take the capital
city. 'Tell your tale, storyteller,' Kage commands me, watching Volturnum
wreathed in shadow within his terrible crystal orb. 'And while you speak, we
shall watch the Empire fall.' He does not care.
